Showing 1 - 4 of 4
Silicon Valley is not an arbiter of free expression
Life, James Hein, Published on 15/08/2018
» It is somewhat disconcerting that Silicon Valley -- which occupies about 300 square miles, and where most think the same and have the same politics -- can determine allowable content for the rest of the planet. Some of us remember that many of the major platforms were developed using government grants and public funding. With this base they should represent all views, of all types, and not just the ones they happen to like. This was the initial declaration at least, but in the modern world, that seems to have changed. I am certainly no great fan of Alex Jones, but that a cabal of providers can effectively execute social termination is very worrying for the future of open platforms and freedom of expression.
Get ready, this week is Apple-heavy
Life, James Hein, Published on 30/07/2014
» At a talk given at the recent Hackers On Planet Earth conference, Jonathan Zdziarski found a number of hidden surveillance tools hidden in the iOS operating system. One provides a back door that, while not wide open, is enough to gain access to the user’s address book, account info and other bits and pieces. In this case, you can get data out, but not back into the device. The retrieved data is in a raw format and needs additional processing. There is also an undocumented packet sniffer (com.apple.pcapd) that can log and export network traffic. These items have been actively updated by Apple, meaning they are not left over from testing.
Samsung unleashes 4K video recording
Life, James Hein, Published on 04/09/2013
» It seems like every time I fire up the computer there is another new smartphone or mobile device announcement. This week it is the Koreans and the Chinese. The Samsung Galaxy Note series has been very popular all over the world, but especially in Hong Kong. The latest version has a good-size screen and a battery that lasts long enough for most people. So what do you add to such a device? Samsung has decided that 4K video recording will be the way to go. The plan is that buyers will then rush out and buy a Samsung 4K TV to play the images on. By the time you read this Samsung will have announced more details, but one prediction is 24-bit audio support. The problem here is that the camera lens will still be a tiny thing so I doubt the resulting video will be anything close to a real 4K recorder in quality like those Canon has just released across their new range.
Flexible electronics may bring sci-fi within reach
Life, James Hein, Published on 19/12/2012
» HP is still the biggest seller of PCs, but it's not much of a player in other computer markets such as the portable realm. In terms of total devices shipped, Samsung is now the market leader growing nearly 100% to take top spot with a solid 21.8% of the market. Apple is next on 15.1%. Lenovo is a surprising third at 7%, with HP now down to 4.6 from a previous 7.4%. HP doesn't have a smartphone and its tablet range is sparse so it makes it hard to compete in the smart-connected space. And things won't get much better since the pundits are expecting another 100% jump in smartphone and tablet sales, rising to an overall 70% share of the market. I'm not convinced, though, that tablet sales are going to increase all that much more in what may already be a saturated market; any new entrants will probably get in with the less expensive Chinese products.